Taming your COVID anger

Also: You don't have to go vegan to save the planet [View in browser](    [❤️]( February 20, 2022 Dear Cog reader, If you’re like me, the COVID era has come with increased familiarity with an unpleasant emotion: anger. Between the upheaval of routines, the constant uncertainty and the lack of hugs (at least for a while), half the time I don’t know if I’m upset about the thing in front of me — or if it’s just primal pandemic frustration.  Thankfully,[ omicron is receding]( (nearly as fast as it came). Cities and towns (including my own) are lifting mask mandates, and many kids will soon have the option of taking off their masks in school for the first time in two years. But we know COVID isn’t going away anytime soon. All sorts of unanswered questions remain about society’s responsibility to care for the most vulnerable. And people are still raging. Remember that story about Boston-area moms [screaming together on a frozen football field]( Enter Dr. Molly Colvin, who has been a real voice of calm and reason throughout the pandemic. Whenever I have a particularly thorny problem, she’s helped me make sense of it. Last year, for example, she wrote about why it was so hard to let go of [pandemic anxiety](. And early on in the pandemic, she explained the phenomenon of “[brain fog]( Colvin is back this week with an essay about [understanding and managing COVID anger](. The long-short of it: It’s OK to be angry; just don’t stay that way. Also this week: A [story by local author Jessica Keener]( who has kept in touch with her junior high school social studies teacher, Mr. Kunitz, for about 50 years. The lessons he taught back then — about inclusion and how to overcome problems of banishment and bias — endure.  “America’s extreme political divisions are no more evolved than the immature behaviors of junior high cliques," she writes. Cloe Axelson Editor, Cognoscenti [Follow]( Support the news   Must Reads [Understanding (and taming) your COVID anger]( Two years into the pandemic, exhaustion, cognitive overload and perceived injustice have combined to make people very, very angry. Dr. Molly Colvin explains what’s happening in our brains. [Read more.]( [Understanding (and taming) your COVID anger]( Two years into the pandemic, exhaustion, cognitive overload and perceived injustice have combined to make people very, very angry. Dr. Molly Colvin explains what’s happening in our brains. [Read more.]( [What I learned in middle school is the lesson all of us need right now]( After a disturbing incident in middle school in the late 1960s, Jessica Keener sought counsel from her social studies teacher, Mr. Kunitz. The lessons she learned from that difficult experience still apply today. [Read more.]( [What I learned in middle school is the lesson all of us need right now]( After a disturbing incident in middle school in the late 1960s, Jessica Keener sought counsel from her social studies teacher, Mr. Kunitz. The lessons she learned from that difficult experience still apply today. [Read more.]( [You don't have to be a vegan to save the Earth]( Here’s why you should become a ‘reducetarian,’ write Joshua May and Victor Kumar. [Read more.]( [You don't have to be a vegan to save the Earth]( Here’s why you should become a ‘reducetarian,’ write Joshua May and Victor Kumar. [Read more.]( [The screens are eating our brains]( Most Americans don't read books anymore, writes Rich Barlow. In fact, nearly six in every 10 Americans don't read a book in any given year. [Read more.]( [The screens are eating our brains]( Most Americans don't read books anymore, writes Rich Barlow. In fact, nearly six in every 10 Americans don't read a book in any given year. [Read more.]( [Why the sexual harassment lawsuit against Harvard is important]( The lawsuit against Harvard is a watershed moment in the #MeToo movement, writes Leigh Gilmore. It leverages collective credibility to show how a complacent institution created a culture in which abuse of power and professional development go hand in hand. [Read more.]( [Why the sexual harassment lawsuit against Harvard is important]( The lawsuit against Harvard is a watershed moment in the #MeToo movement, writes Leigh Gilmore. It leverages collective credibility to show how a complacent institution created a culture in which abuse of power and professional development go hand in hand. [Read more.]( What We're Reading "We cannot continue to subject kids to the 2020 playbook as adults go out and do whatever they want." "[Our playbook to fight covid-19 is outdated. Here are 10 updates for 2022.]( The Washington Post. "The practice of using DNA from a rape kit to possibly identify the victim as a potential suspect in another matter is apparently widespread ... " "[Victim’s Rape Kit Was Used to Identify Her as a Suspect in Another Case]( The New York Times. "'One of the biases that I hadn't examined in myself is the idea that poor children need a different sort of preparation from children of higher-income families.'" "[A top researcher says it's time to rethink our entire approach to preschool]( NPR.org. "Research shows that screen-reading turns us into literary frogs, hopping between segments for quick takeaways" — Rich Barlow, "[The screens are eating our brains]( ICYMI [‘The house they shut off to the world’: Alicia Witt’s tragedy was nearly mine]( When the furnace stopped working, Dad refused to repair it, writes Marie F. Cahalane. I pleaded with him but he wouldn't accept my help. [Read more.]( [‘The house they shut off to the world’: Alicia Witt’s tragedy was nearly mine]( When the furnace stopped working, Dad refused to repair it, writes Marie F. Cahalane. I pleaded with him but he wouldn't accept my help. [Read more.]( If you’d like to write for Cognoscenti, send your submission, pasted into your email and not as an attachment, to opinion@wbur.org. Please tell us in one line what the piece is about, and please tell us in one line who you are. 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( Support the news     Want to change how you receive these emails? Stop getting this newsletter by [updating your preferences.](  I don't want to hear from WBUR anymore. Unsubscribe from all WBUR editorial newsletters [here.](  Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? 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